Offering consumers more fairness and certainty when booking a cab… and getting taxi drivers back in the game

Australia, 16 May 2016: Native taxi payments innovator, ingogo, has today announced a bold Australian first: it’s doing away with traditional metered fares and has shifted its much lauded bookings and payment platform to offer fixed fare bookings. From today, customers will no longer need to worry about how much a fare will cost when they get in the cab.

One of the most common complaints travellers have using taxis is the uncertainty in price before getting into the vehicle. ingogo’s ingenious approach offering fixed fares – the only taxi booking service and app in Australia to do this – instantly eliminates the need to keep a close watch on the meter. A precise determination of what the fare will be is provided at the point a customer enters the trip details into the application. Only once the customer accepts the fare, will the taxi be booked and a driver sent to pick them up.

Hamish Petrie, ingogo CEO, said: “Our redesigned application is the next stage in providing customers with the superior experience that they have come to expect. ingogo already offers the most robust suite of services through our app. This is another feather in that cap.

“Our intention is to keep taxi drivers competitive, both in terms of service and pricing transparency. That way, everybody wins,” Petrie added.

The algorithm that determines the fare price takes into account the distance and expected time using the most efficient route to the destination, traffic conditions, as well as any tolls or fees that might accrue through the trip. There is no surge pricing and no hidden surprises – the price is comparable to what would show up on the same trip if it was a standard metered fare. This makes it a win-win for consumers; what they see is what they get.

Jeff Lim, ingogo Chief Marketing Officer, said: “Customers are at times uncomfortable with taxis, some hire cars and rideshares for a number of reasons. They’re not sure of the final price before they get in, or are concerned that a driver will take a less-than-optimal route to get the passenger to their destination.”

“Through the new ingogo app, customers will have the certainty that they crave around pricing. Legislation expected in NSW will require an estimate when booking, but ingogo is now taking that to the next level. Plus passengers can jump straight out of the cab as payment and receipts are automated ”.

All of ingogo’s other market-leading features remain part of the application, including the ability to hire a taxi up to 48 hours in advance, the power to book a taxi to be waiting for them on arrival at the airport, and security essentials such as a robust lost and found system.

About ingogo:ingogo is an integrated mobile booking and payments company, currently in the Taxi and SME markets in Australia. Its mobile app assists private and corporate customers to easily book and pay for taxis through their mobile phones. It allows passengers to communicate directly with registered taxi drivers in their local area, see where their driver is and their estimated arrival time. It currently operates in Sydney and Melbourne, and has recently launched in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

ingogo has extended its payment platform into other industries beyond taxis, for business owners and SMEs, via an integration with Xero, the leading cloud accounting platform.

In May 2016, ingogo became Australia’s first taxi booking application to switch from metered fares to a fixed fare model.